Our Mission

Most of you have likely never heard of the Colfax Massacre. It was rarely if ever taught in schoolrooms. However, this tragic event, which happened on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1873, in a small town in Central Louisiana, marked the beginning of the end of the rights and freedoms promised to the formerly enslaved African Americans after the Civil War. 

 

That tragic Easter morning, after assuming political authority in the Grant Parish Courthouse, over a hundred African American men fought a valiant battle defending their new rights against a small army of a much better armed white men who had organized to take back power. While several of the black men died during the 3-hour battle, a large number of the victims were murdered that evening after surrendering. While most of the white men who committed this atrocity were never arrested or prosecuted, nine were arrested and three were convicted of "conspiring" to deprive these black men of their constitutional rights. In 1876, these convictions were overturned by the Supreme Court. 

 

This Supreme Court decision in 1876, US vs. Cruikshank, in which three of the men who participated in the massacre were acquitted, triggered the end of Reconstruction in the South, opened the door for white nationalist groups to harass, abuse and kill innocent black Americans, and ushered in the Jim Crow era that lasted for nearly the next 100 years.

 

How could an event and court decision this monumental, one that opened the door to such misery and hardship for millions of Americans for a hundred years be lost to our collective consciousness? It is all too evident that history has all but forgotten the men who made the ultimate sacrifice that day, fighting for the rights and freedoms they were promised in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to our Constitution.

 

The original mission of the Colfax Memorial Organization was to fund, create and dedicate a fitting memorial for the men who fought for freedom that fateful day, and to inform and educate as many people as possible about the true story of the massacre and its aftermath. Now that the Memorial is up, additional funds are being raised to improve the educational and economic lives of the young African American students in Colfax as well as normal expenses related to the upkeep and maintenance of the memorial. Your contribution will make an impact and you can still play a part, whether you donate $5, $50, $5000, or $50,000+. Any donation will help and be greatly appreciated.